Dynamic characteristics of unsteady cavity evolution of high-speed projectiles passing through holes in free surface ice flows

Abstract

The free surface condition of water-entry problems will be significantly modified by the presence of an ice sheet on the water surface. In this paper, we employ computational fluid dynamics to simulate the process of a cylinder entering a water body vertically and validate the numerical method by comparing the cavity evolution with experimental data. Four high-speed water-entry cases are considered: an ice-free water surface, an ice sheet with circular holes, and an ice sheet with minor and normal sized petal-shaped holes. The cavity evolution, flow field characteristics, and motion parameters of the projectile after entering the water are analyzed separately, and the effects of the ice sheets with holes on the typical water-entry characteristics are identified. The results show that the cavity closure mechanism shifts from surface to shallow closure, and a funnel-shaped cavity is observed below the surface when ice is present. The size of the cavity is extremely restricted, but the collapse of the cavity is delayed. The pressure and flow characteristics around the projectile are also affected by ice on the water surface, and the stability of the trajectory is enhanced by the existence of the ice sheet. Finally, the positive acceleration of the projectile triggered by high pressure at the tail of the structure is found to be much larger than that in the ice-free case.